N.D. State players plead guilty to petition fraud

• Ten players, including four starters, from defending FCS national champ were charged
• All were sentenced to probation, community service and must pay $325 in fees
• Coach Craig Bohl has said the players will be disciplined internally but not suspended

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Ten football players at North Dakota State pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor election fraud and were sentenced to community service for faking signatures on ballot measure petitions they were hired to collect.

Among the players on the nation's top-ranked Football Championship Subdivision team who pleaded guilty were starters Samuel Ojuri, Joshua Colville, Marcus Williams and Brendin Pierre. The other players were Lucas Albers, Aireal Boyd, Demitrius Gray, Bryan Shepherd, Antonio Rogers and Charles Smith III.

Without enough legitimate signatures, both proposed ballot measures - one to set up a state conservation fund and the other to legalize medical marijuana usage - were kept off the November ballot.

Each player was ordered to serve 360 days of unsupervised probation, complete 50 hours of community service and pay $325 in fees. All of the sentences were deferred, meaning the crime will be expunged from a player's record if he completes the conditions of his sentence.

Judge Douglas Herman said during sentencing that the defendants were "not smart enough, grown up enough or sophisticated enough" to understand the consequences of their actions, and should not be penalized for being football players.

"I don't want to treat them adversely, to make special examples of them," Herman said.

Birch Burdick, the Cass County state's attorney, echoed those thoughts outside the courtroom.

"We took no consideration of what they do outside the courthouse here other than the activity that we were charging them with," Burdick said. "It's irrelevant to me whether they are football players, baseball players or clerical workers in some office. It's the behavior that we're looking at.

"If they've got some administrative sanctions that they have to face because of their activity, that's up to the university to figure out," he said.

The players declined to comment after the hearing. Defense attorney Bruce Quick deferred questions to NDSU officials, who said late Tuesday that they considered the matter closed.

President Dean Bresciani said during an evening news conference that the athletes were scrutinized by the courts, the university's code of student conduct and team rules. Bresciani said he couldn't discuss the school or team discipline because of privacy laws, but said those accused "made a serious mistake."

Ojuri will be suspended for this weekend's game against Youngstown State, but not specifically because of the petition incident, Bison football coach Craig Bohl said. He declined to elaborate. No other players will sit out.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to the sentences for seven of the 10 players. The state had recommended one-year suspended sentences for Ojuri, Williams and Albers because of prior misdemeanors.

Burdick said the sentencing recommendation was based on past cases in the county and state, most recently in 2008 in Grand Forks.

"Those were all deferred sentences," he said. "As a result we were looking for that same disposition here on most cases."Ojuri, a starting running back, had prior convictions for possession of a controlled substance and a minor alcohol violation. Williams, an All-America cornerback, had prior convictions for possession of alcohol by a minor and driving with a suspended license and without insurance.

Albers, a backup tight end, had previous citation for underage possession of alcohol.

When Ojuri came before Herman, the judge said to the defense attorney, "All right Mr. Quick, this is going to be a hard one."

Quick told Herman he believed all the players deserved the same sentence, in part because they quickly admitted wrongdoing and cooperated with investigators.

"Having this on your record is a lot different than having the other offenses on your record, just because of the taint of fraud," he said.

The judge interrupted prosecutor Tracy Peters when she began to talk about the impact of the crime.

"If you want to be a zealot with this case you don't come in here with deferred impositions in hand," Herman said.

Before finishing with the players, Herman emphasized that they needed to complete the community service by April 15, which would give them about three months after a possible appearance in the FCS championship game. "Must means must," he said, telling them they would go to jail if they don't follow orders.